Rijksmuseum
The National Museum Of The Netherlands (Founded 1800; Cuypers Building 1885), Home Of Rembrandt'S Night Watch And Vermeer'S Milkmaid · Amsterdam, North Holland
The Rijksmuseum is the national museum of the Netherlands: founded in 1800, housed since 1885 in Pierre Cuypers' red-brick palace on Museumplein and reopened in 2013 after a ten-year rebuild. It tells eight centuries of Dutch art and history, but most people come for the Dutch Golden Age - Rembrandt's Night Watch at the end of the Gallery of Honour, Vermeer's Milkmaid, The Little Street and Woman Reading a Letter, Frans Hals, Jan Steen and Ruisdael - and stay for the surprises: two 17th-century dolls' houses, towering Delft Blue flower pyramids, model warships, a Cuypers library of iron galleries and the Asian Pavilion. The gardens around it are free, and a public cycle and foot passage runs straight through the building. The honest caveat: it is huge and busy. The Gallery of Honour is crowded from late morning, the Night Watch has been under a long public restoration (Operation Night Watch) and may be partly behind glass or scaffolding when you come, and trying to see everything in one visit only leaves you tired.
Museumstraat 1, Museumplein, Amsterdam, Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
Open every day of the year, usually from about 09:00 to 17:00, with occasional late openings for events - confirm current hours. The gardens are free and open during the day. Buy a timed ticket online in advance: at quiet times the desk may still sell tickets, but in spring, summer and school holidays slots sell out and the door queue is slow. Museumkaart and some city-pass holders must still reserve a time slot. Get there by tram 2 or 12 to the Rijksmuseum stop (lines change - check 9292 or GVB), or walk about 25-30 minutes from Centraal. Bike racks sit near the building; do not park bikes in the passage.